Japanese party game uses a head-mounted lie detector

A weird new toy called the Kokoro Scanner is due to be released by Tokyo-based Takara Tomy. The core gadget that lets players ‘enjoy’ the game is a head-mounted lie detector with the potential of ruining your upcoming office Christmas party.

Kokoro Scanner

The toy is simply a device which changes colour to indicate if the person wearing the headset’s is under physiological pressure and to therefore analyse if they are lying or not. It detects the wearer’s blood flow and heart rate, which naturally becomes faster when a person gets nervous.

The device will measure a baseline of the person’s blood flow to start, since the speed of blood flow differs depending on each person. If the Kokoro Scanner flashes green, it means that the wearer is relaxed and not lying; the yellow light means that they are unsure and may be lying; whilst the red shows that they are pretty disturbed and are telling lies.

Kokoro Scanner

To make it worse, the indication light is located on the person’s forehead, meaning that they will be the only one not seeing what colour it’s flashing whilst they are being questioned on things perhaps better kept private. We’re not quite sure how this new public humiliation toy will go down in Western households, but in Japan, many game shows notoriously involve games to humiliate participants.

The device will be priced at $50 and is set for release in the US on 30 October, perfect timing to add it to your holiday shopping list and spice things up at parties. It will come bundled with a deck of questions to help beginners. However, the question cards are written in Japanese, so you’ll probably be better off writing your own for the purpose of the game.

Kai-Li is a tech enthusiast with an in-depth knowledge of mobile technology, music technology and the entertainment industry. She hails from Taiwan and helps Tech Assimilate to erm... assimilate, all the latest tech news and trends from East Asia. Kai-Li Yang on Google+